A shortage of skilled workers in the region is continuing to crimp the hiring plans for many area companies as they struggle to find qualified candidates.

Stefani Pashman, CEO of the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board, said there is a mismatch between the supply of available jobs and skills of the workforce.

TRWIB released a report at the beginning of November that found there were more than 45,000 online job posts for the Pittsburgh metro region in September, paying an average of $20.97 per hour. If each of the vacancies were filled, the region’s unemployment rate would have dropped from 7.4 percent to 4.1 percent.

“There is a disconnect that occurs between who is unemployed and what employers want,” Pashman said.

Pashman said one challenge moving forward, and one of the major reasons she sees the workforce stalling is the lack of qualified workers.

“We still hear manufacturers and companies in the good sectors saying to us, ‘I would grow faster if I had people, but I don’t have people with technical skills. I can’t find them,’” Pashman said.

Christina Sutter, corporate communications manager at Kennametal, said there is a huge skills gap in manufacturing.

“About 1 million jobs are available, but manufacturers are having trouble finding skilled workers to fill these positions,” she said. “At Kennametal, we have more than 300 jobs open around the world, and about 50 percent of those are in the U.S.”

She said, globally, the company is finding it increasingly difficult to find application engineers, sales engineers, machinists and general engineering jobs.

“This is a long-term, systematic problem that exists not only in our country, but internationally,” Pashman said.

Josh Knauer, CEO of Rhiza Labs, a Shadyside-based tech company, said he is hoping to add to his team next year, but what he is looking for does not match the skill set of applicants.

“What we are seeing are kids that are emerging out of college, or college-age interns that do not seem to have some of the most basic skills necessary, with a very small exception to the rule,” he said.

Rhiza, one of Pittsburgh’s top-10 fastest growing tech companies, according to the Pittsburgh Business Times’ Pittsburgh 100 list of fastest-growing companies, has been operating at a steep growth curve. While looking at the possibility of doubling his team in the next year, Knauer said he is just not seeing applicants with strong STEM skills and, as a small business operating with a tiny team, he needs to make sure every hire counts.

“We see an education system that isn’t necessarily training people for the jobs that are available for today and tomorrow,” Pashman said. “What we are seeing is an overwhelming, systematic, pervasive skill gap, and it is going to be one of our greatest challenges moving forward if it is not addressed.”

Pashman added the divide between employers and the education system needs to be narrowed.